1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus for processing semiconductor substrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma processing technique such as etching using microwave energy is known in the art. As disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication Sho-60-134423, a semiconductor specimen substrate is placed inside a plasma chamber which is surrounded by solenoid coils to produce a high density magnetic field in the chamber, and gas and microwave energy are injected to the chamber so that the gas is allowed to react with the microwave energy and the magnetic field to produce a reactive plasma. However, one disadvantage of the prior art plasma processing apparatus is that due to the use of solenoid coils the overall size of the apparatus is disproportionately large in comparison with the plasma chamber, making it difficult to increase the size of the plasma chamber.